Registration of payer and insured

Registration of payer and insured

If you are an entrepreneur entered into CEIDG or a partner in a partnership (registered partnership, professional partnership or limited partnership), you have to submit a declaration for social insurance. The same obligation concerns the single shareholder of a limited liability company.

Registration of economic activity involves a series of obligations. One of them is the payment of contributions for social and health insurance for yourself, as an entrepreneur and other persons assisting in the conduct of business.

Since you are an entrepreneur, you have an obligation to register insured persons to the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS).

To register yourself and your employees to Social Insurance Institution you have 7 days from the moment of registration of economic activity.

Before you fill in the declaration you need to remember about two issues. You can submit completed declaration to a chosen ZUS unit – it doesn't have to be institution competent for the place of residence or conducting business activity.

Remember that you can submit declarations using ZUS electronic service platform (PUE). This means the possibility to fill in and submit all documents without leaving home or office.

When you registered in the CEIDG, through the so-called single window, your data (as a ZUS contributions payer) has been received by ZUS. You do not have to fill in and send forms ZFA, ZBA or ZZA.

If you operate in the form of partnership registered in KRS you have to submit a declaration as payer of contributions on the ZUS ZFA form. In addition, you must submit the ZUS ZBA form (information on bank account numbers) and ZUS ZAA ( information on the business addresses).

The payer of the contributions is the person responsible for the calculation of the correct amount of the contributions and their payments to ZUS.

The insured is the person who benefits from the social security system. It is you as well as an entrepreneur and persons who help you to conduct business activity.

As a sole trader you act in a double role – you are the contributions payer and the insured. This means that in spite of the so-called single window, you must submit an application to ZUS ( as a payer you are obliged to register the insured, that is yourself).

You have 7 days from the date when the insurance obligation arises to submit a declaration of the insured (registering business, employment of worker or co-worker). The ZUS ZUA form is used to submit an application of the insured. Entrepreneur who starts to conduct non-agricultural economic activity, benefiting from a preferential social contribution, the so-called small ZUS enters as a code of insurance 05 70.

24 months after the start of the exercise of an economic activity (loss of right to preferential social contribution or the lack of such a right upon registration) the correct code is 05 10.

You should know that 24 months of 'small ZUS' mean full months. If you set up your company e.g the 2nd day of the month, you will pay 'small ZUS' for a month longer.

If you are subject only to health insurance, registration to ZUS is made using the ZUS ZZA form, without the need to complete ZUS ZUA.

Monthly declarations as a contributions payer

As an entrepreneur you have an obligation to submit ZUS DRA declaration every month. Remember that you can submit declarations by Electronic Services Platform (PUE) of ZUS. This means that you can fill in and submit all the documents without leaving home or office.

DRA declaration is an information submitted to ZUS about the amount of contributions which you pay to ZUS (paid for yourself and other insured).

Deadline for submission of declarations is the 10th of the month following the month to which it relates.

Obligation to submit ZUS DRA declaration does not concern entrepreneurs who pay minimum contributions (regardless of whether it is so-called small ZUS or the basic contribution). It doesn't apply to entrepreneurs who pay contributions for persons cooperating in minimum amount.

You do not know how to fill in DRA declaration, we can help you. Read ZUS information in this regard – Settlement declaration.

If for some reason you change assessment basis from which contributions are calculated, you must submit ZUS DRA for a given month. Such a change can be receiving sickness benefit. Another example is a situation when you start your business activity during a month – then you need to submit DRA declaration for part of settlement period and next one for a full month.

The obligation to submit DRA declaration once again doesn't relate to the change of level of contributions as a result of indexation.

If you employ workers, every month you have to submit DRA declaration.

The overpayment

If you have an overpayment in ZUS, unduly paid contributions will be set off against back, current and future contributions. If you want to recover funds unduly paid to the Social Security Institution, you can submit an application for reimbursement. Read more on what to do in case of overpayment.

When as an entrepreneur I do not have to pay contribution to social insurance

Overlapping of insurance titles is a situation when you have income from a few sources and provisions determine which is a basic one for calculating contributions for social and health insurance.

Business activity and full-time employment

In case of overlapping full time employment and non-agricultural activity as titles for insurance, the full time employment is superior ( contributions will be calculated and paid from this title).

If you work full time and earn at least the minimum national wage (in 2016 PLN 1850 gross), you do not have to pay social insurance contributions when at the same time you conduct business activity. Contributions are collected only from remuneration for employment.

Business activity and contract of mandate

If you provide services on the basis of civil law contracts and the contributions collected at least at the level as in the case of entrepreneurs who have paid the minimum social security contributions (60% of the projected average monthly remuneration), there is no obligation to pay contributions for business activities.

If under civil-law contracts during a given month contributions lower than the lowest contributions for entrepreneurs were paid then contributions from business activity must be paid, and in addition (voluntary) contributions also from civil law contracts may be paid.

Entrepreneurs conducting activity for which the small ZUS is applicable (basis for contributions at the amount of 30 % of the minimum wage) and at the same time provide services e.g. under contract of mandate, are subject to mandatory old-age and disability pension insurance from both titles (i.e. activity and mandate), unless the total assessment basis of contributions in respect of these titles reaches or exceeds the value of the minimum wage ( PLN 1850 gross in 2016)

You must keep in mind that contributions from civil contracts are charged on a cash basis – they are charged for the month in which the remuneration was paid. If in a given month the remuneration has not been paid to you under a civil-law contract (e.g. deferred payment for the next month), you need to charge social security contributions arising from activities carried out.

Business activity and contract for specific task

Contract for specific task is not in principle a title to insurance. There is therefore no overlap of titles to insurance in relation to work under contract for specific task and to conducting non- agricultural activities. An exception is a situation in which a contract for specific task is concluded between the insured person and his employer. The Social Insurance System Act treats the remuneration paid on the basis of such a contract on an equal footing with income from employment contract.

Whom do I have to register for the insurance?

Carrying out economic activities you pay contributions for yourself but also for your employees and co-workers, and in some cases also for the family member who will assist you in the performance of activities and must be registered to ZUS as an insured person.

The basis for the calculation of health insurance contributions is the assessment basis for calculating the old-age insurance and disability pension insurance i.e. revenue in the meaning of the provisions on the personal income tax. In the case of persons conducting business activity and persons co-operating with them, the basis of contribution is the declared amount, not lower than 75 % of the average monthly remuneration in the business sector in the fourth quarter of the previous year, including payments from profits, announced by the President of the Central Statistical Office in the Official Journal of the Republic of Poland "Monitor Polski". The contribution in the new amount is applicable from 1 January to 31 December of a given year.

The contribution amounts to 9 % of the assessment basis for the calculation of contribution. Part of the contribution in the amount of 7.75 % of the assessment basis is to be deducted from the personal income tax, which is taken into account both in advances for tax and in the annual settlement.

The annual limit of assessment basis, i.e. the limit of 30 times of average wage estimated per calendar year do not apply to health insurance contributions, as well as sickness and accidence insurance contributions. Contributions to sickness, accident and health insurance must be paid on the surplus over mentioned limit.

The health insurance contribution is in the annual tax return (PIT) deducted from tax.

In the case of health insurance contributions there is no overlapping of insurance when you work on the basis of an employment contract and conduct business activities at the same time, the contribution is charged on both titles – it will be paid twice. If you conduct an individual activity, you are partner in two companies and work full time – you will pay a contribution four times. The health contribution is indivisible and always paid in full (even for an incomplete month).